Structurally complex terpenoid natural products have been recognized as important therapeutic agents. For example, taxol and ingenol are clinically used for the treatment of cancer and actinic keratosis, respectively. In addition to these important drugs, a multitude of related cycloheptane-containing terpenoid natural products have promising, but underexplored medicinal potential. For instance, englerin A and its analogs are being actively investigated for the treatment of renal cancer, phorbol and its esters have been intensely studied due to their potent biological activities, as have pseudoguaianolide natural products. Numerous other natural product classes, including abeo-taxane, neodolastane, cyathane, and icetexane, and individual natural products, such as anthecularin, sandresolide B, frondosin A, and liphagal display promising biological activities. The combination of the polycyclic carbon-framework's rigidity and differences resulting from the substitution and oxidation patterns thereon provide a rich array of potential biological activities. Other therapeutically and chemically interesting terpenoids are shown in FIG. 1.
Facile and systematic access to diverse substitution and oxidation patterns about carbocyclic frameworks would advance drug design and development. Accordingly, simplifying access to complex terpenoid scaffolds for application in the drug discovery process is a major goal of modem organic chemistry (e.g., see Huang, M., et al., Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs 2012, 21, 1801; Ghantous, A., et al., Drug Discov. Today 2010, 15, 668; and Wang, G., et al., In Nat. Prod.; Humana Press Inc., 2005; pp 197-227). For example, natural product analogs can be accessed by (a) semisynthesis (see Ganem, B.; Franke, R. R. J. Org. Chem. 2007, 72, 3981), (b) “total” or de novo synthesis (e.g., see Jansen, D. J.; Shenvi, R. A. Future Med. Chem. 2014, 6, 1127; Urabe, D.; Asaba, T.; Inoue, M. Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 9207; and Maimone, T. J.; Baran, P. S. Nat Chem Biol 2007, 3 (7), 396), and by (c) diversity-oriented synthesis (e.g., see Cordier, C., et al., Nat. Prod. Rep. 2008, 25, 719; Huigens III, R. W., et al., Nat. Chem. 2013, 5, 195; Balthaser, B. R., et al., Nat Chem 2011, 3, 969; and McLeod, M. C., et al., Nat. Chem. 2014, 6, 133). However, many of these synthetic approaches are laborious and require complex reaction sequences, frequently use starting materials that are costly and rare; and/or are not easily scalable. Currently available synthetic routes do not provide methods that allow facile preparation of diverse terpenoid scaffolds that can be derivatized for biological evaluation.
Despite advances in research directed towards preparation of terpenoid cores and scaffolds, there remain a scarcity of methods for preparation of terpenoid cores that utilize abundant starting materials and simple reaction sequences that can be used to tunably and scalably assemble common terpenoid cores. Moreover, in view of the limitations of current methods, there are limited compounds comprising a terpenoid core that can be easily derivatized for biological evaluation. These needs and other needs are satisfied by the present disclosure.